Picture and design made from dry earths and process of making the same.



M. M. FLAMMER. PICTURE AND DESIGN MADE FROM DRY EARTHS AND PROCESS OFMAKlNG THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 10, I915- I Patented Jai1. 29,.1918.

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MARGARET 1a. FLAMMER, or BALBOA, CANAL zone. I

PICTURE AND DESIGN MADE FROM DRY EARTHS AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J an. 29, 1918.

Application filed November 10, 1915. Serial No. 60,755.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern; Be it known that I. MARGARET M. FLaM- MER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Balboa, Canal Zone. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pictures and Designs Made from Dry' Earths and Processes of Making the Same, of which. the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a novel method of producing pictures and designs in colors and to the products of such process. In eXeouting my invention I employ pulverulent. earths of different colors and bythe proper manipulation and handling of these. I produce pictorial effects that-are artistic and pleasing as well as novel. It is well known that the earths, including in that term sands, clays, soils, etc., are in their natural condition of many colors, from the most brilliant in hue to those that are somber in tone, and I avail myself of this fact in the execution of my invention, as the color effects of the pictures and designs I produce are secured by the use of different earths in their natural colors.

In practising my invention earths of different colors are secured, sifted to remove all coarser particles, and thoroughly dried. From these colored earths in a pulverulent and preferably dry condition I build up a picture, by arranging the earths of different colors in masses between confining surfaces, one at least of which is transparent, arranged close together. The earths are arra d and packed between these surfaces tightly so that when the space between them is filled no movement of the particles takes place. It is evident that by the method described true pictures with light and shade, and when desired, with color may be produced by means of the colored earths used, according to the skill of the workman or artist using the process.

In order to have a better understanding of my invention I'have illustrated it in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan View of a framed pic-,

ture made according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the picture taken on the line XX of'Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of a hollow retainer, of cylindrical form, for the earths used in making a picture or design; and

Fig. at is a vertical section taken on the line Y-Y of Fig. 3.

The view shown in Fig. 1 represents a tract of country, somewhat broken in the foreground and gradually ascending toward a mountain that appears in the distance. To the right. of the mountain is a lake surround ed by hills, the outlet of which flows down tain, greens may be used if it is to bebe rep-v resented as clothed with verdure, or brown in various shades if a bare mountain is to be represented. The waterof the lake may be represented. by the use of white or light green or blue, the sky by light gray or bluesand or earth, and the clouds in the sky by white. I V

The earths are arranged in a thin layer between'a front wall2, which is transparent and constitutes the covering sheet of the picture, and a backwall 3[ I prefer that the two walls should be formed of an integral mass of glass united at the bottom as at l'. Between these wallsor plates is the narrowspace '5 into which the earths are packed, they being introduced through the opening at the top between the plates 2 and 3. After the picture'has been formed and the chamber 5 filled, it is closed by a cap piece 6. '.T he retainer thus formed may then be surrounded by a suitable frame 7. I do not wish to be.

limited to making the retainer integral, or to having the plates 2 and 3 ofthe same material, although I prefer the arrangement shown.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a hollow cylindrical form of retainer for the colored earths from which a picture or design is to be produced. It consists of an outer cylindrical wall 8, and an inner cylindrical wall 9 concentric therewith, between which walls is the space 10 into which the earths are placed and packed. One end of the cylinder 8 is open, exposing thespace 10 for filling. This open end is closed, after the retainer has been filled, by a cap 11. The end of the inner concentric cylinder 9 nearest the cap-closed end of the cylinder 8 is closed by an integral portion 12, preferably dome-shaped. At the end of the retainer opposite that closed by the cap 11 the two 7 cylinders are united, as represented at 13, and the central space inclosed by the inner cylinder is left open, as indicated at 14.

By means of a retainer such as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 a picture or design may be executed that can be viewed from the outside, through the cylinder 8, or from the inside, through the cylinder 9, it being understood that both retaining walls, 8 and 9 in this form of retainer are transparent.

I am aware that the practice of displaying sands and earths of various colors and natures by arranging them in strata or layers within glass tubes or jars is old; but so far as I am aware earths of various colors, in dry pulverulent form, have never been employed to produce artistic designs or pictures such as I have produced and have herein described and illustrated.

I am also aware that pulverulent ore, earths, glass and similar material have been used in making cabinet jewelry, mosaics and ornamental glass work, and that in the manufacture of such articles, where the pulverulent materials referred to are used, it has been the practice to subdivide the space to be occupied by the finished product into a number of relatively small compartments by means of partitions of one sort or another, and to fill these compartments with the pulverulent material employed, each compartment usually being filled with material of uniform kind or color. But my invention, both in the process or method of operation and the product thereof as herein described, is radically different from the methods of operation and the products that have just been referred to. In operating according to my invention, the colored pulverulent earths are arranged in a free or undivided space, so that the arrangement of the earths giving the desired pictorial effects is'entirely undetermined by partitions or mechanical separating means, and is dependent entirely upon the one practising the Copies of this patent may he obtained for invention. I can thus produce real pictures, true in their effects to life, rather than conventional designs, which are the result of the processes to which I have referred.

In practising my invention, it is often desirable to use a minute quantity only of an earth of a particular color, as for instance, to show a small cloud in the sky, a minute lake in the distance, or a projecting rock in a held in the foreground, or the like. This is entirely feasible in using my invention, but the results attained thereby could not be produced by the use of coloredearths in practising the older methods to which I have referred.

What I claim is 1. The herein described method of making pictures and colored designs which consists in arranging in a free, undivided space colored earths in pulverulent condition to produce the desired lights, shades and pictorial effects, compacting the earths as arranged, and confining them by a trans parent retainer.

2. The herein described method of making pictures and colored designs which consists in arranging pulverulent colored earths in a thin layer between confining walls in a free, undivided space to produce the desired lights, shades and pictorial effects, one of the walls being transparent, and compacting the earths as arranged.

3. A picture the shaded and colored por ions of which are formed from colored earths arranged to produce the desired pictorial effect, and confined in a free, undivided space between retaining surfaces one of which is transparent.

4. A picture the shaded and colored portions of which are formed from dry pulverulent colored earths arranged in a thin layer undivided to produce the desired effect, such layer being confined between retaining surfaces, one of which is transparent.

(Mus) MARGARET M. FLAMMER- five cents each, by addressing the commissioner of Patents.

Washington, 3). (3. 

